“We rely on sugar in everything we do,” Chokri Bouajila, a bakery worker in Tunis, told AFP.”If we have sugar, we can work, otherwise we can’t do anything.”Bouajila, who specialises in Tunisian traditional sweets, said customers have been buying less and less of his pastries.’Bitter coffee’Over the past few years, Tunisians have seen their purchasing power greatly diminish thanks to inflation, a recession and rising unemployment.The country of 12 million is grappling with debt worth about 80 percent of its entire economic output, and inflation averaging between eight to 10 percent a year.A third of its population is estimated to be living under the poverty line.At the shopping centre, the queue only gets longer.”I’ve been here for the past 35 minutes,” said 40-year-old Hassna, another customer waiting in line for sugar.”Why are we going through all this? How did we get here?””Let us thank God”, a man standing nearby told her, “we are in a better situation than our brothers in Gaza who are dying of hunger”.Nonetheless, others hope to make the best of the country’s latest challenge.Nayla, a shopper making her way around the mall, said she would rather change her habits than get in line for sugar, pointing out that it was hardly the healthiest ingredient.”Bitter coffee doesn’t bother me anymore,” she said.
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